High court to review class action vs. Halliburton

WASHINGTON 
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Halliburton Co. shareholders who want to pursue a class-action lawsuit that claims the oil services company inflated its stock price starting when former Vice President Dick Cheney ran it.

The court said Friday it will take up a challenge to an appeals court ruling against the shareholders, who want to represent all investors who bought Halliburton stock between June 1999 and December 2001.

Cheney, who is not named in the lawsuit, was Halliburton's chief executive until 2000, when he resigned to run for vice president.

The merits of the lawsuit are not at issue before the court, only whether it may proceed as a class-action.